Virginia Democrats were primarily celebrating being able to now block the governor鈥檚 plan in the state, but the outcome of Tuesday鈥檚 races 鈥� both at the state and local school board level 鈥� raise questions about the political viability of other Youngkin mandates, such as adopting state policies seen as hostile to LGBTQ+ students and giving parents far greater control over classroom materials. 

These volatile issues have roiled national politics for the last several years and were at play in school board and statewide elections in multiple places Tuesday. But voters , as seen in Democratic and progressive-leaning teachers unions quickly heralding the results and foes of Moms for Liberty, a high-profile, hard-right parent group whose candidates did not fare well, . 

鈥淰oters across the country rejected extremist politicians and school board candidates running on divisive 鈥渃ulture war鈥� issues in yesterday’s elections, as mainstream parents rallied instead behind those championing investments in safe and welcoming public schools that kids need to recover and thrive,鈥� the American Federation of Teachers said Wednesday.

Citing its own analysis of 250 races nationally, the union said AFT-supported candidates won in over 80% of them and that 鈥渆xtremist school board candidates鈥� were defeated in Bucks County, Pennsylvania; Wichita, Kansas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Aldine, Texas; and throughout Ohio and Minnesota.

On the other side of the aisle, the conservative Center for Education Reform was hoping for an opportunity to extend school choice funding measures that did not materialize: 鈥淚f [Youngkin鈥檚] party wins the votes necessary to take the majority in both chambers, there is potential for this state to provide parents with Education Savings Accounts.鈥�

Here are five places where the school culture wars were pivotal in the 2023 elections:

Pennsylvania: Two school board contests in particular, in Pembridge and Central Bucks in suburban Philadelphia, were being watched nationally as a showdown between Republican incumbents, who had adopted a range of anti-LGBTQ+ and ultra-conservative curriculum measures, and Democratic challengers who pledged to change course. The contests also drew outsized political contributions, most notably in Central Bucks where Democrats and Republicans . The of the Central Bucks races and appeared to go to candidates opposed to the Moms for Liberty-aligned incumbents.

Virginia: In Spotsylvania County, where a conservative board was among the first to implement Youngkin鈥檚 education platforms, all four GOP-endorsed candidates lost to more liberal opponents. One who went on to defeat, Kirk Twigg, suggested that books pulled by the board from school libraries should be burned. He lost by almost 25 points, . In Loudoun County, which became ground zero for a host of culture war issues, particularly during Virginia鈥檚 prolonged school closures, all nine board members will be new in this upcoming term. 鈥淚t was chaos for the last four years and I鈥檓 glad the election is finally over, and we can get to work,鈥� said Deana Griffiths, .

Ohio: The state, where former President Trump won 53% of the vote in 2020, became a leading story out of the 2023 elections when voters and reproductive health care in the state constitution. It鈥檚 difficult to say how those voters may have gone down ballot in their local school board races, but in central Ohio, either supported or aligned with Moms for Liberty or the right-leaning 1776 Project won their races. In the Lakota and Forest Hills districts outside Cincinnati, including painting over a mural celebrating different races, carried the day.

Minnesota: Five of the largest suburbs of Minnesota鈥檚 Twin Cities this year saw an unprecedented wave of spending by two political action committees backing candidates running on parental rights agendas. As of last week, the Minnesota Parents Alliance and a local affiliate spent a combined $80,000 鈥� the lion鈥檚 share donated by one person 鈥� on 44 school board candidates. Just nine of their candidates clinched their election, according to unofficial results. Three races were as of Wednesday afternoon. Two of the PAC-supported candidates won board seats in the state鈥檚 largest school system, the Anoka-Hennepin School District, which has a long history of local elections centering on culture war issues. In the southern city of Hastings, where in the 2021 election cycle activists outed the now-former school board chair鈥檚 8-year-old child as transgender, three Minnesota Parents Alliance candidates captured seats on a seven-member board. 

New Jersey: Parental rights and gender issues have taken center stage at school board meetings, with the results from Tuesday鈥檚 election being mixed on whose agenda resonated more with voters. In Morris County, where school boards have fought over parental notification and LGBTQ+-themed reading materials, conservative candidates did well. In Sussex and Bergen County, however, incumbents lost seats after blocking pride signs on school grounds, seeking to remove books from the library or altering policies on transgender students, .

Four Southern states schedule off-cycle races the year before a presidential campaign. Two, and , are deep-red bastions where incumbent governors are considered mild favorites to win reelection. In a third, Louisiana, the Republican favorite already in an October 鈥渏ungle primary,鈥� automatically advancing to the governorship.

But Virginia, where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin still has two years left in his term, offers something different: a true battleground whose outcome could serve as a bellwether for the national mood. And in few other states have education debates played such a prominent role in recent political history.

Youngkin鈥檚 victory in 2021, snapping his party鈥檚 long losing streak in statewide contests, was widely attributed to over their children鈥檚 experiences in school, combined with lingering anger over pandemic-related health measures. It also served notice that Democrats, long favored by the public as stewards of schools, take their advantage on education for granted.

Local authorities, too, have awoken to the reality of abysmal post-COVID academic achievement. Results from standardized tests show that Virginia children by the prolonged closure of K鈥�12 schools and transition to virtual learning, and reports of have only heightened concerns further. Following the release of another round of poor student scores, Youngkin recently laid out for learning recovery centered on tutoring and literacy reforms. 

How that recovery will be carried out, and whether conservatives may venture into the bolder experiments with school choice that have been attempted in other Southern states, hinges significantly on the outcome of Tuesday鈥檚 elections. 

Control over the State Assembly will be decided by just a handful of swing seats, but the range of possibilities for governance is huge. If Democrats maintain their 22-18 lead in the state Senate 鈥� and perhaps win a majority in the House of Delegates, where Republicans currently hold a four-seat edge 鈥� they will retain the ability to check Youngkin鈥檚 ambitions and escape the rightward thrust that has brought expanded school choice and anti-critical race theory legislation to states like Florida. But if the governor鈥檚 party is able to capture both chambers, he could ride his conservative record and electoral victories to an enviable perch in the Republican presidential primary. 

Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., said public polling revealed a Virginia electorate that is generally contented with the state of public schools. Still, he added, a successful agenda of school improvement could make a national figure of Youngkin, already by Republicans seeking alternatives to a third Trump nomination.

鈥淚 think more people are going to be voting on the hot-button social issues than on the specifics of the governor’s plan for learning recovery,鈥� Farnsworth said. 鈥淏ut if the governor is able to proceed along the lines he’s outlined, and if that reverses test score declines, it would be a very powerful message for his political future.鈥� 

鈥楽uch a meltdown鈥�

Such a reversal could be a tall order given the depth of Virginia鈥檚 Virginia鈥檚 academic crash during the pandemic. 

Signs of the decline mounted over several years, but last fall, results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (a federal exam commonly referred to as the Nation鈥檚 Report Card) provided the starkest evidence yet. 11 points in math and 10 points in reading between 2019 and 2022 鈥� substantially more than the national average. In both subjects, the state鈥檚 average score fell from the ranks of the national leaders to the middle of the pack.

As researchers gathered more detailed information, they revealed even uglier findings. Shortly after the calamitous NAEP release, Stanford sociologist Sean Reardon and Harvard economist Tom Kane released the , a database using the federal scores to quantify learning loss at the district level across 29 states. The tool showed that five of the 10 districts that experienced the worst reading setbacks were located in Virginia; even worse, the state accounted for an astonishing nine out of the 10 districts that fell the most in math. Students in two of the state鈥檚 biggest cities, Richmond and Newport News, lost well over 1.5 grade levels during their time in remote instruction. Those districts, along with many others nationwide where learning loss was especially acute, were already afflicted with high rates of poverty and academic underperformance when COVID hit.

The damage cannot be attributed to a single factor, though the prior research of both Kane and Brown University economist Emily Oster found strong links between meaningful drops in achievement and the length of time that students spent away from brick-and-mortar schools. According to co-authored by Oster, the average Virginia district spent just 9.2 percent of the 2020鈥�21 school year in full-time, in-person instruction.

The apparently pernicious effects of Zoom classrooms don鈥檛 explain how other states, such as California, also endured lengthy school closures without their students鈥� performance tumbling as far as those in Virginia. But state Sen. Chap Petersen is convinced of the connection, complaining in an interview that schools 鈥渨ere shut down for so long, and with so little scientific basis.鈥�

A centrist Democrat representing Fairfax, just a few miles south of Washington, D.C., Petersen to reopen schools in 2021 and later to end school mask mandates. Petersen lost his primary in June , an upset some observers have attributed to his stance on pandemic-era policies. He stands by the position nonetheless.

鈥淭he COVID-19 situation was such a meltdown that it kind of stood everything on its head,鈥� Petersen said. 鈥淚t was a violation of the Virginia Constitution because we’re required to make a public school system available to kids. For a year, we had no actual school system.鈥�

Yet the public is still not clamoring for wholesale changes to K鈥�12 policy. Polls show that while most Virginians rate education in the upcoming elections, they generally give high marks to their local schools. Rather than looking to state officials for emergency intervention, a sizable plurality in a recent survey said that Youngkin over schools. 

For his own part, the governor argues that parents are kept in the dark about the true state of school quality. Citing research from the reform-oriented Collaborative for Student Success, he has complained of an 鈥渉onesty gap鈥� resulting from the for proficiency on Virginia鈥檚 state exams, along with for school accreditation. 

The Virginia Board of Education is now of its accreditation process, which measures students鈥� test scores, attendance and college readiness with an aim toward placing failing schools on a path to improvement. In spite of the huge dip in student achievement during the pandemic, the overwhelming majority of schools received full accreditation in 2022, leading the board鈥檚 president to observe in a recent meeting that the system 鈥渄oes not seem to be measuring schools well relative to student performance.鈥�

Christopher Gareis, an education professor at the College of William & Mary who specializes in classroom assessment, said that more transparency was needed in how the state communicated with the public about school quality. Likening Virginia鈥檚 approach to school accountability to that of U.S. News & World Report, he said state authorities had historically found it 鈥渁ll too easy to tinker with the system鈥� without making their work legible to voters.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a really sophisticated methodology that sometimes changes,鈥� Gareis said. 鈥淏y and large, the public’s not saying, ‘What changed here? I’ll go become a psychometrician so I can figure it out.’ All they know is that a given school is scored 50 or 25 or 225. That’s a real challenge.”

The Youngkin trajectory

Though not on the ballot himself, Youngkin has worked to keep schools at the center of the legislative campaign, hosting around the state this summer. Tacking away somewhat from the disputes over social issues that the open discussions largely focused on protecting kids from exposure to drugs and social media.

In September, the governor unveiled his , which incentivizes Virginia鈥檚 132 school districts to spur learning growth by establishing tutoring programs, hiring specialized reading instructors and addressing chronic absenteeism. Financial support for the strategy comes from a recently enacted two-year budget, which includes in new school funding. But that the state is exceeding its budgetary authority in requiring districts to submit spending plans to the Virginia Department of Education before money can be dispersed, suggesting that a legal fight could be in the offing. 

Thus far, learning recovery hasn鈥檛 featured heavily in either of the parties鈥� campaign themes. Democratic candidates have made education-based appeals around select issues 鈥� incumbent Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg, running for a Republican-held Senate seat in suburban Richmond, showing a high school class conducting an active shooter drill 鈥� but are mostly attacking the GOP on its post-Roe efforts to . 

Petersen, whose Northern Virginia senate district has taken on a socially liberal bent in recent years, said his party鈥檚 supporters have become less animated by education as the region and more single people. In previous decades, he argued, the school closures of 2020鈥�21 would have triggered a bigger backlash. 

鈥淚 was the guy who fought to reopen schools, and I considered that my strength,鈥� Petersen said. 鈥淚 ran on those issues, and they didn’t motivate Democratic voters.鈥�

Chris Saxman, a Republican who served in the House of Delegates between 2002 and 2010, said the nature of the cycle made it difficult for schools to receive their share of the spotlight. Unlike in 2021, when school-related controversies acted as an 鈥渁ccelerant鈥� to Youngkin鈥檚 rise in the gubernatorial race, this fall鈥檚 elections only feature legislative candidates. What鈥檚 more, in a polarized environment with swing seats (out of 140 being contested), most competitive races were unfolding in areas where voters might be leery of promises of education reform.

鈥淭his year, only a few of the districts are in play, and they鈥檙e swing districts,鈥� Saxman said. 鈥淵ou can’t go heavy against public education in swing, suburban districts, where people pay high taxes for what they see as good schools.鈥�

Much will depend on whether voter turnout resembles the electorate of 2020, when President Biden handily captured the state鈥檚 presidential vote, or that of 2021, when Youngkin won an upset as an outsider candidate. According to from the University of Virginia鈥檚 Center for Politics, Democrats could fall well short of the president鈥檚 10-point victory margin while still preventing Republicans from winning a Richmond 鈥渢rifecta鈥� (control over the governorship and both chambers of the House of Delegates). 

Another stint of divided government, with Democrats maintaining control of the Senate and/or erasing the Republicans鈥� narrow House majority, would ensure that the governor would 鈥渁ccomplish very little over the next two years,鈥� the University of Mary Washington鈥檚 Farnsworth observed. Aside from pushing forward with ALL IN VA (most communities failed to offer their spending plans before the state鈥檚 recommended Oct. 16 deadline, with some and challenges in staffing tutoring initiatives), the administration to make districts comply with its guidance on the treatment of transgender students in school. A newly formed Chronic Absenteeism Task Force has .

On the other hand, a Republican breakthrough 鈥� the party would need to hold the House and flip two Senate seats to notch a 20-20 split, with Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears serving as tiebreaker 鈥� would open up entirely different possibilities. Over his first two years in office, Youngkin has sought to broaden access to school choice and innovation through an expansion of 鈥渓ab schools鈥� (somewhat akin to university-sponsored charter schools), only to see funding for the idea in the upper chamber. In a state with , a renewed push next year could change circumstances on the ground quickly, though a separate campaign to would still face an uphill climb.

More than policy victories, unified GOP control in Virginia would send a chill through Democrats just 12 months from a presidential election. The state has gone blue in every such race since 2008, but Youngkin has managed a successful balancing act halfway through his governorship. showed him enjoying a 54-38 approval rating, trouncing President Biden鈥檚 rating in what should be a redoubt of the Democrats鈥� victory coalition. 

Jumping into the presidential race this deep into the cycle would daunt most contenders. But Youngkin, among conservative donors, could easily manage the start-up costs of a campaign, leaving many to speculate that a strong showing on Election Day could set the stage for the governor鈥檚 late entry.

鈥淓verything I see indicates that he’s going to make some foray,鈥� into the Republican primary, Saxman said. 鈥淲hether they gain a functioning majority in the Senate and do something about school choice, which would make him more nationally vibrant to compete for the presidency, is [a big] question.鈥� 

Disclosure: Andy Rotherham is a member of the Virginia Board of Education and sits on 麻豆精品鈥檚 board of directors. He played no role in the reporting or editing of this story. 

The summit will be held at a downtown Marriott from June 29 through July 2, despite from LGBTQ rights advocates and others who object to the group鈥檚 stance on social and education issues. 

The American Historical Association sent to the Museum of the American Revolution on June 26, urging its president to reconsider the decision to let Moms for Liberty hold a portion of the summit there.

“Moms for Liberty is an organization that has vigorously advocated censorship and harassment of history teachers, banning history books from libraries and classrooms, and legislation that renders it impossible for historians to teach with professional integrity without risking job loss and other penalties,” the letter read.

Neither Moms for Liberty nor the Museum of the American Revolution responded to a request for comment about the letter. 

The summit is a must for Republican leaders, a reflection of the organization鈥檚 influence. Some high-profile speakers, including DeSantis, are returning for a second round: The governor spoke at last summer鈥檚 event alongside Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and former secretary of housing and urban development Ben Carson. 

This year’s event has proven an even bigger draw for conservative politicians and their followers. Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice said the 650-ticket summit has already sold out. 

The vocal, right-wing parent organization was formed in Florida in 2021 by school board members Tina Descovich and Justice and by , who is married to the of the Florida Republican Party. 

Moms for Liberty members originally targeted COVID protocols but have since focused on critical race theory, diversity and inclusion, social-emotional learning and LGBTQ issues, among other topics. The group claims 285 chapters and 120,000 members across 44 states.

The organization gained national recognition after members disrupted school board meetings across the country, with of those who oppose their views. Local chapters have mounted highly successful efforts targeting materials related to racism, slavery and gender. 

Moms for Liberty was recently labeled an by the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Justice called the characterization shocking and absurd. 

鈥淚 think they’ve really shot themselves in the foot,鈥� she said. 

Her group鈥檚 mission is to empower parents and support their fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children, she said. 

鈥淭hat includes their education, their medical care and their morality and their religion,鈥� she told 麻豆精品. 鈥淎nd it seems like we鈥檙e in a tug-of-war with the federal government in our nation鈥檚 schools.鈥�

President Joe Biden also was invited to the summit, but his office did not respond, Justice said. The Biden campaign did not answer emails requesting comment.

Moms for Liberty has endorsed across the nation, many of whom have gone on to win. 

Despite its ability to attract high-profile politicians and zealous parent advocates, some experts question whether education will be a key issue in the 2024 presidential race.

Jeffrey Henig, professor of political science and education at Columbia University鈥檚 Teachers College, said he thinks it will likely take a backseat. 

鈥淓ducation is one of those issues that is tempting politically because it gets a fervent response for a subset of voters, particularly parents,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that can be attractive because it lets you mobilize people who don’t always like to turn out 鈥� or are on the fence. But 鈥� it can backfire.鈥�

School politics, he said, 鈥渃an take sharp twists and turns鈥� that leave politicians exposed.

鈥淭oday’s cheers for a strong stand against so-called ‘smut’ in texts can morph into indignation at book banning and perceived attacks on treasured schools and teachers,鈥� he said. 

Frederick M. Hess, senior fellow and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said politicians once used education to appeal to voters in the middle. Now, he said, they use it to court their base. 

鈥淚f Trump is the nominee and you don鈥檛 like him, it鈥檚 not likely that his stance on Title IX or school choice will change that,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd if you鈥檙e concerned about Biden, wokeness or federal spending, it鈥檚 tough to imagine that a proposal for universal pre-K or student loan forgiveness is going to win you over.鈥�

Michael J. Petrilli, president of the , a research fellow at Stanford University鈥檚 and executive editor of , said that if Trump gets the nomination, his views on education or other issues won’t really matter. Nothing will distract from the candidate himself, he said. 

The embattled former president, whose divisive rhetoric has continued well beyond his time in office, is facing a host of legal troubles, including a recent indictment over alleged . 

鈥淚f Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, the election will be about Donald Trump,鈥� Petrilli said. 鈥淓nd of sentence. Policy issues will play an exceedingly minor role.鈥�

But if another candidate wins the party鈥檚 nomination, Petrilli said, he or she might use the issue of school choice to entice working-class Hispanic and Black voters.

鈥淎nd it might work,鈥� he said. 

DeSantis has banned classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity . His Parental Rights in Education Act 鈥� often called the Don鈥檛 Say Gay Bill 鈥� has been replicated .

Haley, a former , has referred to transgender girls participating in girls’ sports as “the women’s issue of our time” on the campaign trail. Placing herself to the right of DeSantis, she has said his legislation isn鈥檛 stringent enough. 

Henig said the Florida governor’s overall stance is too extreme to succeed with a national electorate.

鈥淎mericans still have a lot of trust and allegiance to their local school communities,鈥� he said, adding that Democrats might frame DeSantis’s efforts as an attack on teachers.

The progressive Cook County commissioner was declared the winner over his moderate rival, former Chicago Public Schools CEO and school choice advocate Paul Vallas, with 91 percent of ballots counted on Election Night. The six-week runoff campaign, pitting a charismatic K鈥�12 activist against a veteran education reformer, highlighted critical challenges facing the nation鈥檚 fourth-largest school district.

It also appears to have been the city鈥檚 closest election in living memory. Local officials will spend the coming days tallying mail-in ballots that are expected to pad Johnson鈥檚 victory margin, but the candidates were separated by just 2.8 percent of the vote on Wednesday afternoon; by comparison, incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot enjoyed a nearly 50-point lead in her 2019 win.

Flanked by Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, the mayor-elect addressed a crowd of ecstatic supporters after Vallas鈥檚 concession.

鈥淢ake no mistake about it: Chicago is a union town,鈥� Johnson announced.

The results delivered an unmistakable triumph to a teachers鈥� union movement that spent much of the last decade marshaling its influence within both the American education policy debate and the institutional levers of the Democratic Party. Even while absorbing setbacks in statehouses and the courts 鈥� most notably the Supreme Court鈥檚 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision, which effectively ended public sector unions鈥� powers to raise funds from non-members 鈥� educators have led successful drives to increase school funding and improve working conditions. 

Brad Marianno, a professor of educational policy and leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, wrote in an email that Johnson鈥檚 election was a 鈥渃apstone victory鈥� for the movement and added that other teachers鈥� unions around the country were likely 鈥渢aking notes鈥� on the successes achieved in Chicago.

鈥淐TU has been writing the progressive union playbook for a while and now has completed a new chapter on how to expand the reach of progressive teachers’ unionism into the highest elected office in one of America’s largest cities,鈥� he observed.

The race to become the city鈥檚 next mayor was reset after a February primary that shockingly eliminated Lightfoot, whose popularity had dwindled after four years of often-truculent relations with the CTU and other local heavyweights. With no candidate finishing over 50 percent, Johnson and Vallas advanced to an ideologically supercharged second round.

While Johnson emerged from near-anonymity after Gates declined to make a run herself, Vallas has played a marquee role in Chicago鈥檚 three-decade municipal drama over school governance. He was appointed to lead CPS in 1995, following years of chronic underperformance and a controversial district takeover spearheaded by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. His tenure was marked by new academic offerings, tough accountability initiatives, and slowly climbing test scores.

While Vallas followed his six-year stint with similar postings in Philadelphia and New Orleans, Chicago Public Schools kept on the reform track under his successor, future U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The following decade-plus saw even greater academic gains, but also top-down decisions 鈥� including dozens of school closures in 2013 鈥� that alienated families and provoked a teacher-led revolt.

Johnson, a former social studies teacher, became a protegee of then-CTU President Karen Lewis and eventually served as the organization鈥檚 political director. After a turbulent decade that saw bitter negotiations with city leaders and prolonged work stoppages in 2012, 2019 and 2022, the union has succeeded in placing one of their own in City Hall. 

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, in the race鈥檚 closing weeks, said in a statement that his election represented a 鈥渢ransformational moment鈥� in Chicago鈥檚 education politics.

鈥淥n education, the contrast was clear: Johnson wants to ensure parents have a say, teachers can teach and students can learn, without the intrusion of those who measure their success by closing schools rather than strengthening them,鈥� Weingarten wrote.

Ironically, however, Johnson will inherit a mayor鈥檚 office whose power over the district has begun to ebb as a result of the CTU鈥檚 own success. Nearly three years of mayoral control will come to an end beginning next year, when the city will begin electing members of a 21-seat school board that the union lobbied for in Springfield. By the end of Johnson鈥檚 first term, major decisions about school finance and policy will be substantially out of his hands.

Those decisions will be crucial to the future of Chicago Public Schools 鈥� particularly given an enrollment crisis that has seen the district shrink by more than 100,000 students since Vallas鈥檚 days as CEO. The resultant decline in state funding, along with significant costs associated with spiraling pension debts, will impose an unenviable fiscal crunch on the next administration.

In just a year, Johnson faces the prospect of negotiations with none other than the CTU after their current contract expires. Although some have projected that the new mayor鈥檚 close ties will ease future bargaining rounds 鈥� 鈥淲ho better to deliver bad news to friends, than a friend?鈥� 鈥� he will also be faced with tough calls like whether to further downsize the district鈥檚 under-enrolled school campuses.

Michael Hartney, a political scientist at Boston College and public administration, said that the CTU鈥檚 organizing muscle had given Johnson a 鈥渃lear advantage鈥� on Tuesday. Now, he added, 鈥渢he difficult work begins.鈥�

鈥淯ntil the city鈥檚 school system reverts to an elected school board, Johnson will need to decide whether to select a new school superintendent, and he may have to negotiate a contract with his former employer,鈥� Hartney said. 鈥淎nd while the mayor-elect is sure to be sympathetic to the union鈥檚 priorities, certain fiscal realities loom large for the city’s school system.鈥�